The process of struggle with ancient times

The 200th Division (Commander Dai Anlan), the vanguard of the 5th Army of Myanmar, is a highly mechanized and well-equipped unit, which has repeatedly made outstanding achievements in War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression. It entered Myanmar first, with high morale. Military trucks are covered with slogans written in Chinese and Burmese: "The China army is here to defend the Burmese people!" "Strengthen Sino-British military cooperation!" "Myanmar is China's best neighbor!" "Drive out the enemy and be awesome!" "Win glory for our country, and finally win it back!"

On March 7th,1942,200 division fought day and night and reached the battle front. Tonggu is 250km south of Yangon and 320km north of Mandalay. It is an important city and strategic position of Yang Man Railway. There is also Keyonggang Airport in the northwest, which is a place that the Japanese army must "quickly occupy". On the other hand, we think that it echoes Prometheus in the west and Mao Qi in the east, and constitutes a barrier to stop the Japanese invasion to the north. Especially on March 8, after the fall of Yangon, the dispute with the ancient times became more important.

The morale of the British-Burmese 1 Division stationed in Tonggu was extremely low. It doesn't know the enemy's situation and is not ready for battle. It is only prepared to retreat safely and save its strength. 1942, 18 in March, the Japanese army advanced to Tonggu, and the British army retreated to Pomei. From 19, the United Front of the 55th Japanese Division 1 12 launched an attack on Tonggu, and the United Front of 143 went into battle on the 20th. The two sides fought fiercely 12 days, and the Japanese army encountered fierce resistance that it had never encountered since the Pacific War.

Due to the failure of the British troops on the western front to act actively and the delay of the British side, the follow-up troops of the Chinese Expeditionary Force failed to arrive at the Tonggu front as scheduled. 200 divisions fought hard 12 days, with more than 2000 casualties, lack of food and ammunition inside and no reinforcements outside. The situation is critical in the face of enemies four times their own after reinforcement.

Du believes that "in this situation, our army can neither concentrate its main force on decisive battle with the enemy to solve the siege of bronze drums, but in a long time, the enemy who landed in Yangon will inevitably participate in the battle with bronze drums, and the 200 th Division will be annihilated by the enemy. In this way, our expeditionary force will be broken by the enemy one by one, and there is a danger of total annihilation. Therefore, I am determined to make the 200 th Division break through on the evening of the 29 th to save our military strength and prepare to choose another time and place to fight the enemy. " So the 200th Division broke through safely under the command of Dai Anlan, without losing a single wounded soldier.

The battle to defend Tonggu is the largest, longest-lasting and largest battle to annihilate the enemy in Myanmar. Moreover, under the unfavorable situation of the fall of Yangon, it fought hard with the enemy with the same strength, equipment and air superiority 12 days, wiped out more than 5,000 enemies, covered the retreat of the British army and won time for the follow-up troops of the expeditionary force. Finally, the 200 th division was safely transferred and won a great victory. The Japanese army also admitted that the 200 th Division was very brave in the battle against Cuba, which was the hardest battle of the Japanese army in Myanmar.

Tonggu is a small town in the southern plain of Myanmar, which is also translated as Xu Dong or Donggua, with a population of 1 10000. Tonggu is 260 kilometers away from Yangon, with roads, railways and waterways extending in all directions. There is a military airport in Yongke Port in the north of the city, which is of great strategic importance. The famous bronze drum war kicked off here.

Edit this military comparison

1On March 20th, 942, the 200th Division of the Chinese Expeditionary Force and the 55th Division of the Japanese invaders fought fiercely outside the same ancient city in Myanmar, causing heavy casualties on both sides. According to the archives released by the Japanese Defense Agency after the war, we were able to compare the weapons and equipment of the two sides at that time:

55th Division of Japanese Army

Troops: 20,259; 150 mm field gun: 36 guns; 200 mortars; Tank armored vehicles: 40 vehicles; Air support: 3 aviation squadrons.

China Expeditionary Force 200th Division

Troops:11000; 75 mm field guns: 20 guns; Mortar: 100 door; 3 tanks (the rest remain in Lashio); Air Support: None